[b.lever]

Can anyone confirm is the quality of HD on virgin media better than sky ,

[Nigel Goodwin]

Originally Posted by b.lever

Can anyone confirm is the quality of HD on virgin media better than sky ,

As far as I'm aware the quality on Virgin is lower, as it's only MPEG2, and certainly the quantity is lower than Sky.

But I wouldn't consider the difference in HD quality to be much of a reason for picking either one.

[Technix]

There's absolutely no diference to the eye whether the HD is MPEG2 or MPEG4. In fact it could be argued the HD on Virgin is of higher quality because it's not as compressed as MPEG4.

[stuntmaster]

Originally Posted by Technix

There's absolutely no diference to the eye whether the HD is MPEG2 or MPEG4. In fact it could be argued the HD on Virgin is of higher quality because it's not as compressed as MPEG4.

Well ESPN HD always comes out really good, as does the sky channels. BBC1 HD doesn't show much difference.

BBC HD however looks great!

Interestingly ITV 1 HD Meridian does not carry any dolby digital track....

[Donkey]

I've had both (presently got the TiVo) and on the terrestrial channels the picture from cable looks better than the picture through the dish. As someone above has already stated, it could have something to do with Virgin cable signal being less compressed.

[Jez_Gafys]

It's always hard to compare unless you can sit two identical tvs next to each other and a sky/virgin box. From my experience I have noticed HD channels from the BBC are better on Virgin but I am adament that the HD sky channels on virgin are not as good as the HD sky channels on Sky eg Sky 1.

Sod what people say about mpeg2 and 4 and that mpeg2 isn't as compressed its a totally different architecture and really be compared like for like it's all down to personal preference.

Mpeg4 was created to improve on mpeg2 by further reducing file sizes but also increase video and audio quality and in many cases does it's advertised job well. Mpeg2 though is still a worthy contender and in many cases it takes a video/audiophile to notice any true difference but on paper atleast mpeg4 should be better.

[Tudor]

The difference between MPG2 and MPG4 is really down to bandwidth. MPG4 does use less bandwidth for the same quality than MPG4, but in no way does this make it better. You can get supurb quality with MPG2 with a high bit rate which means a bigger bandwidth.

[psouth]

Originally Posted by b.lever

Can anyone confirm is the quality of HD on virgin media better than sky ,

i thort it should be the same cos the main channels comes from sky,unless virgin has tamped with the settings..
do they use there own settings or the same settings sky uses?

[technologist]

Originally Posted by psouth

i thort it should be the same cos the main channels comes from sky,unless virgin has tamped with the settings..
do they use there own settings or the same settings sky uses?

As others have pointed out the BBC HD Channels are coded by VIRGIN for their platform - they get HDSDI and then code it MPEG2 ..

The DTT and DSAT platforms have MPEG 4AVC coded by ATOS....

[psouth]

Originally Posted by technologist

As others have pointed out the BBC HD Channels are coded by VIRGIN for their platform - they get HDSDI and then code it MPEG2 ..

The DTT and DSAT platforms have MPEG 4AVC coded by ATOS....

why do virgin media have their own codes/settings for the channels from sky etc? is it cos of lack of memory virgin media has in their bandwidth compaired with sky etc..